February 11, 2011

Claire, the Author

As we walked in the house this afternoon after picking up Claire from school, she asked immediately, "Gray, can I type up the story I wrote in my journal?"

"Sure," I said, pleased but wondering what prompted her not only to write a story but to want to type it on the computer.

Claire was glued to the computer for the rest of the afternoon typing away until dinner. After dinner and bath, she brought me her printed story to read. It's fantastic and really cute. There's a clear voice in her writing that's entertaining and easy to read. As I praised her for the work she'd done so far, she said, "Do you think I could get it published?"

"Maybe," I said encouragingly.

"I mean, like, a kids' book publisher," she clarified.

Then Claire asked if we had enough time to watch a movie tonight, since Mr. Morgan had mentioned a family-movie-night earlier. As Mr. Morgan and I debated whether we had enough time, Claire said, "I thought I could finish my story if we didn't have time for a movie."

We gladly encouraged her to go finish her story, since she was so excited about it. As she sat down at the computer, Claire said, "Now, I'm going to be my author self."

The writer in me is feeling so proud but a bit "upstaged." I haven't written much of consequence this week, and I haven't even started on my fictional-character writing assignment from writers' group last week. Now 11-year-old Claire writes a whole children's book in one day.

3 comments:

  1. Once Claire finishes, I'll definitely post it. She's finished four chapters, and she said tonight that there will be at least seven chapters in her book.

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  2. Make sure to tell her about the published teenage authors out there, such as the author of the bestselling Eragon book (and its successor books, which were written when he was no longer a teenager).

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